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Nokia 6650, Super 3G Phone

Ch_Omega writes "Nokia has announced the 6650, which in short, is the first phone ever to meet the 3G-standard! It combines GSM and WCDMA into a single handset, then throws in a VGA still camera and video camera with sound. More info on Infosync and and Nokia forums!"

184 comments

  1. will it take off? by Boone^ · · Score: 3, Insightful

    3G has been hit the hardest when the economy went south... how will 3G gain a foothold in the land of disposable cell phones?

    1. Re:will it take off? by BrookHarty · · Score: 2

      3G isnt only phones, its mobile devices. Just think of some people using it. Police, fire departments, stores, warehouses, schools, business (vpn), construction, entertainment, etc..

      People are not supporting old 2G technology, the future is 3G, there is no turning back for the phone companies. In fact most are finished rolling out thier base 3G network, only upgrades are next.

      Try to buy a 2G phone/modem, not alot of choices are there...

    2. Re:will it take off? by grumpygrodyguy · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Hmm spend $60/month for spotty access to slow, unreliable data networks? No thanks.

      --
      The government has a defect: it's potentially democratic. Corporations have no defect: they're pure tyrannies. -Chomsky
    3. Re:will it take off? by Slordak · · Score: 1

      What do you mean people aren't supporting 2G technology? Walk into any cellular phone store today and tell me what technologies the phones they are selling are using. The answer? CDMA, TDMA, and GSM. These are the "2G" digital technologies, and these are what is in use today. Add in a few extras like GPRS and call it "2.5G", but we aren't using 3G phones yet.

      As far as there being "not a lot of choices", I disagree. Pretty much every phone you see on a web site that you can purchase today would qualify as a 2G or 2.5G phone product.

      With regards to 3G infrastructure support... Not a whole heck of a lot of WCDMA / UMTS infrastructure support in the world, although I hear UMTS is up and running on the Isle of Mann. Service providers are still trying to figure out if users are willing to pay more for higher bandwidth and for new types of services. If people just want to use voice, 3G is a waste of time. But if folks are willing to pay by the byte for (relatively) high speed data access, then the technology may have some payback after several years.

    4. Re:will it take off? by BrookHarty · · Score: 2

      A dirty little secret about 802.11b is that it can cover more than 20 kilometers with suitably directional antennas.

      Good for stationary needs, and telcos are already starting WIFI in some locations. But 3G is better suited for mobile needs. (Plus its also VOICE)

      WIFI is more like DSL, as 3G is more GPRS/PDA/Voice/mobile/911 related.

    5. Re:will it take off? by owenb · · Score: 1

      Sorry. Stupid konq scroll wheel bug. Posting to remove the flamebait mod I just erroneously gave you

    6. Re:will it take off? by bob_dinosaur · · Score: 1

      Not all of us live in the USA, you know. Some of us live in the rest of the world and do know how to build out reliable, scalable, interoperable wireless networks.

    7. Re:will it take off? by beamso · · Score: 1

      2G can only handle so many phone calls on the one base station. After that, no new calls can be made in that cell, and if you enter a full cell, your call drops out. 3G is being sold as a cure for this congestion.

  2. Great! by SexyKellyOsbourne · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Finally, the beginning of the end for IPV4!

    1. Re:Great! by Angry+White+Guy · · Score: 4, Funny

      Then we can work on running out of ipV6 space. Each one of my socks can have an ip address! Where's my blue shirt? I'll just ping it!

      --
      You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
    2. Re:Great! by joib · · Score: 3, Informative

      I'd say you have to get an awful lots of socks to exhaust the 128-bit address space in IPv6 :)
      It works out to something like 5e28 addresses per human being.

    3. Re:Great! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Then we can work on running out of ipV6 space. Each one of my socks can have an ip address! Where's my blue shirt? I'll just ping it!

      That will only tell you whether your sock has been destroyed. What you need to do is traceroute your sock.

      Then, nmap it, and find an exploit to get root@sock. Then install a sniffer to pick up nasty sock smell.

    4. Re:Great! by SirSlud · · Score: 3, Funny

      > Where's my blue shirt? I'll just ping it!

      ping: cannot ping blueshirt.myhouse.pvt: destination shirt unbleachable

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
    5. Re:Great! by SirSlud · · Score: 2, Funny

      just so long as nobody can install a stroke-logger in my undies

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
    6. Re:Great! by Angry+White+Guy · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, but Walmart sells socks for $1.00 per pair. At that price it's cheaper for me to buy new ones every week rather than launder them.
      so that's 25e27 pairs of socks before I run out, and that doesn't take skivvies into account!

      --
      You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
    7. Re:Great! by BrookHarty · · Score: 2

      Finally, the beginning of the end for IPV4!

      Nope, Most use NAT'ed Ips.

    8. Re:Great! by 13013dobbs · · Score: 1

      Considering how many socks are lost each year, we may need more IP space then.

      --

      No replies made to AC posts. Please log in.

    9. Re:Great! by Mechanik · · Score: 1

      Then we can work on running out of ipV6 space. Each one of my socks can have an ip address! Where's my blue shirt? I'll just ping it!

      You won't be able to find your way to it though unless you do traceroute...


      Mechanik

    10. Re:Great! by Eravau · · Score: 1

      I don't know where you do your laundry, but at the laundromat I go to I pay only $.75 for a washer-load of socks (I would say a minimum of 40 pairs of socks would fit in there) and another $.75 to dry them all.

      If you're paying $40 (plus tax) to have a load of socks done, you have some serious expendable income...not to mention an incredible talent for finding over-priced laundering facilities.

    11. Re:Great! by CvD · · Score: 1

      Dude this would be so awesome. Imagine if your things had some sort of radio tag in them, then you wouldn't need to look for them around the house... just do a search, and it'll tell you it's location... nice!

  3. Awesome! Finally, a 3G phone...wait a second... by omarKhayyam · · Score: 5, Funny

    I live in the US. Crap.

  4. Re:Just shoot me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You don't understand! I meant they should be shot, as in video recorded with a Nokia phone and sent to friends! See how confusing this is?

  5. Re:Awesome! Finally, a 3G phone...wait a second... by linuxislandsucks · · Score: 0, Redundant

    its ready to work with us networks.. have you heard of WCDMA?

    For the real sotry when it was talked about yesterday or day before check out my weblog :

    http://www.diaries.com/ShareMe/

    --
    Don't Tread on OpenSource
  6. Yeah, be one of two people who have one.. by popeydotcom · · Score: 2

    They're going to be soooo expensive.

    Reminds me of an old Spitting Image sketch featuring a puppet of Alexander Graham Bell and his mum. Went something like this..

    *Phone Rings*
    Mum: Hello, '2'. (quoting her phone number)
    AGB: (disguising voice) Hello lady, what colour knickers you got on?
    Mum: Alexander, I know that's you!

    Made me laugh anyway.

  7. CDMA2000 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    For those that posted about living in the US or that 3G's problems are the economy....

    CDMA2000 is a 3G standard. Qualcomm sells it, US, Korean and even Japan providers us it.

    UMTS is a mess for technical and political reasons.

  8. Is it available in the US.... ?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is it available in the US of A? Ah well... I guess I will still us my trusty analog cell phone. /me hates lugging the 2 lb brick base unit around...

  9. What's the point? by hamsterboy · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I'm sure all these 3G gadgets will be cool and all, but what are they good for? What pointful activities can you do with a 3G phone that you can't do with a regular cell phone and a palmtop? Do you need your stock quotes in color while you're riding the train?

    I think that 3G's time won't come until PANs become the norm. I'd love to have my cellphone talk to my PDA for its phonebook, and for my PDA to use my cellphone's transmitter to access the web, and for both of them to use my pager-sized solid-state drive for storage. I'm just not sure I need to watch movies on a 1" screen.

    -- Hamsterboy

    1. Re:What's the point? by BagOBones · · Score: 1

      Might be handy to store digital photos directly on a network connection instead of a dinky memory card

      --
      EA David Gardner -"... but the consumers have proven that actually what they want is fun."
    2. Re:What's the point? by hamsterboy · · Score: 1
      And why would I want my phone to take pictures in the first place?

      What ever happened to having a simple tool for a simple job? Want pictures? Get a camera. Want voice communication on the go? Get a cell phone. Want network access? Ah, that's not a simple job - gotta get a laptop or palmtop for that one.

      -- Hamster

    3. Re:What's the point? by giminy · · Score: 2

      I completely understand your question, but for some people one unit makes sense. When I wander around right now, I carry with me: A sharp zaurus handheld, a cell phone, and a digital camera. I like to have all this stuff on me at all times. But, it's kind of a lot to walk around with everywhere. Hence a 3G phone might make sense for me. Though I'm probably in the minority in the US right now...

      --
      The Right Reverend K. Reid Wightman,
    4. Re:What's the point? by james_underscore · · Score: 1

      That 128kbps downlink on the move sounds pretty sweet. But of course there's the extortionate mobile phone charges which could make the whole experience quite painful. The main reason I don't use the WAP features on my phone at the moment is I just can't afford it.

    5. Re:What's the point? by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 1

      A sharp zaurus handheld, a cell phone, and a digital camera. I like to have all this stuff on me at all times. But, it's kind of a lot to walk around with everywhere.

      I can understand that, but how much of it would really be as useful as the existing devices if they were combined? Usually you sacrifice something for combining the devices, even moreso than with things like PC hardware or stereo equipment.

      Hence a 3G phone might make sense for me.

      3G is just the networking side of things, and doesn't really have anything to do with combining the different types of devices.

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
    6. Re:What's the point? by BrookHarty · · Score: 2

      Whats the Point?

      Color, Speed, ease of access.

      Phones are just now getting basic functionality that people want. Nobody wants to hold a phone the size of a brick, 2 color black on green display that only gets 9600 baud transfers.

      With the new phones you have both IR/BlueTooth, for ease access. High speed (not cable modems or t1s, yet...). Cameras are just an App to show off the color features. You do realize, these are VIDEO PHONES that are out NOW.

      3G is coming here, you cant stop it. The world standard is 3G, and people are buying these new phones all around the world. When the USA is fully 3G deployed, those phones that everyone buys in the UK/Japan will be in the US.

      BTW, the new PDA/Phone combos are hot. Even crackberry (Umm, Blackberry) is a cool device.

    7. Re:What's the point? by Observer · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Well, finding ways to justify the networks' investment in 3G mobile licences, perhaps?

      Demonstrating that you're still up there in the leading group of equipment manufacturers, certainly. Nokia have produced some very speculative pieces of equipment to try things out (eg last year's 5510, full alphabetic keyboard for text messaging plus a digital music player) then later integrated some of the useful results in later more mainstream models.

      I'm not particularly disagreeing with Hamsterboy's comments - I get to try out quite a range of the new phones where I work and haven't yet seen a reason yet to upgrade from the 6210, but some of the newer kit is very nice even for basic voice + messaging. I still haven't yet seen a true "killer app" for 2G or 3G classes of devices: getting your stock quotes on the train can be done easily enough with text messaging, and these days, the red color can be assumed. But with enough on-demand bandwidth, maybe the suppliers can grow a market for a device that provides visual proof of the archtypical irritating Mobile phone user's message "Hello honey, I'm on the train".

      --
      The question of whether the egg or the chicken came first depends on which of the two gets to write the history.

    8. Re:What's the point? by Korgan · · Score: 1
      I can understand that, but how much of it would really be as useful as the existing devices if they were combined? Usually you sacrifice something for combining the devices, even moreso than with things like PC hardware or stereo equipment.

      Just my experience... I have done something along those lines. I have gone from carrying a Visor Edge, 6310 and a digicam to carrying just a Nokia 7650. Its worked out perfectly.

      The Symbian OS 6.1 has enough features to keep a technophile like me very happy. Plenty of distractions and bells and whistles. J2ME midlets make things even better in that my software is not limited to just Symbian native SIS files but also the J2ME compatible apps (so long as they're setup to use a screen res the same or smaller than my 7650).

      The PDA features of the 7650 are very well put together. The calendar app has replaced my PDAs app, the contacts beats anything the visor could do without getting extra software to use instead. Todo is there with priorities, memo pad/notes are there. Then there's a good supply of games when I'm bored. I got around the fact that its only a WAP phone by downloading a HTML browser midlet which is very useful. And I have IM+ so I can get onto ICQ/AOL directly. It works out that ICQ via GPRS is a lot cheaper than sending SMS messages back and forward between the phone and ICQ.

      Aside from things like a much smaller software range at the moment, the phone is a complete replacement for my PDA and I very rarely take the PDA off the cradle now unless I need a specific piece of software. But then, thanks to Nokia releasing the API for their Series 60 phones, I'm in the process of working slowly to write my own Symbian versions of the software I absolutely need. Why not?

      Oh, and yes, there is even VNC and SSH clients for the Symbian based 9200 phones and I'd say they won't be far off for the Series 60 phones ;) Well, SSH client is more what I want at the moment.

      Still, we'll get there. As more people start buying these phones, the software will start to be available for them. Tis what happened with Palm units and Windows. Given that not just Nokia, but Sony-Ericsson and others are building on Symbian, it should prove to be a very prolific software industry in the not too distant future.

      Still, thats just my experience. What have I given up when I put the Visor Edge down? Not really a lot... Just reduced the current software choices I have for a little while. :) Given how old my digicam was, the resolution is still the same :)

    9. Re:What's the point? by Some+Dumbass... · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm sure all these 3G gadgets will be cool and all, but what are they good for? What pointful activities can you do with a 3G phone that you can't do with a regular cell phone and a palmtop? Do you need your stock quotes in color while you're riding the train?

      Is it just me, or are cell phones quickly becoming "The only electronic device you'll ever need"? Who needs a PDA? Before long, cell phones will be as functional as PDAs, with built-in wireless internet access to boot (not to mention that they'll still work as cell phones!)

      But why stop there? Cell phones already have digital camera features. Media (e.g. mp3) playing functions can replace those devices. When they come up with a cell phone which can play CDs somehow, they'll have a replacement for just about every portable electronic device out there. Then you just need a portable screen and keyboard, and your cell phone can replace your laptop too :)

      All that, and yet the general public will buy them just to call their friends and maybe play a few games. Cell phones will become portable computing for the masses!

      At least it could happen that way.

  10. Re:Hold your horses by Xerithane · · Score: 4, Informative
    Besides, how is battery time on this one? The latest nokia phones i have seen has had two-thirds or even half the battery time of the competitors.

    From the website:


    • Talktime: 2 h 20 min (WCDMA), 2 h 40 min (GSM)
    • Standby time: Up to 350 h


    My Ericsson T68 with the battery bar at half:
    • Talktime: 3 h 42 min (GSM)
    • Standby time: 133 h

    I've never had a Nokia even go close to this phone. I get about 5 hours of talk time on my phone, and I've verified it's battery reporting function too.

    I'll stick with Sony Ericsson
    --
    Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
  11. All I want by sys$manager · · Score: 1

    Is a phone that lets me phone people and lets people phone me. I don't want to surf the web, I don't want to take pictures, and I don't want to play games. I just want to phone people. Because it's a phone. That's what you do with it.

    I guess that's why I have the most basic digital phone you could get two years ago, an LG 330. It lets you make and receive calls and store numbers, and that's it.

    1. Re:All I want by Dehumanizer · · Score: 1

      Bah. Phones are for sending and receiving SMSs. The voice function is just an unnecessary, rarely used extra.

      --
      The Tlog - a technology blog
  12. Too bad it's Nokia... by Lumpy · · Score: 0, Troll

    ever cince that piece of trash known as the Nokia 5160,5165 hell the entire 5100 series... I will never EVER buy another nokia phone as long as I live or reccomend anyone to. Ergonomically laid out by a large number of morons, has the "oops the screen is dead" feature that requires a complete hard reset, losing all your stored numbers.. (Out of a fleet of 20 phones, we have 15 of them that do this on a regualr basis! and have been replaced several times!)

    nokia.... no thanks... let me know when a company that makes good phones (motorola, Qualicomm) get's one out.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:Too bad it's Nokia... by andrew_0812 · · Score: 0

      Interesting. I didn't know that Nokia had these problems. My wife and I both have a 5165, and it works just fine. I have never had a problem with mine. Excellent coverage, battery life, etc... The only annoying thing is the antenna. Do many people have these problems, or are you in the minority? Just curious.

    2. Re:Too bad it's Nokia... by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      I have 20 of them. and as I said the bulk of these phone have this problem. as well as the single send/end/menu button is the stupidest design... I have had many extra-long calls on the phones here because the user though they pressed end but it was currently at menu.

      and from what the AT&T wireless techs tell me... this is VERY common as they are cheap phones.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    3. Re:Too bad it's Nokia... by ssstraub · · Score: 0
      I have 20 of them. and as I said the bulk of these phone have this problem. as well as the single send/end/menu button is the stupidest design... I have had many extra-long calls on the phones here because the user though they pressed end but it was currently at menu. and from what the AT&T wireless techs tell me... this is VERY common as they are cheap phones.
      That's funny. I'm a college student. As you probably can guess, pretty much every single one of my friends has a cell phone. We don't use landlines at all anymore. Also, pretty much every single one started with a Nokia 5100 series.
      And guess what? I've never heard of *ANY* of the problems you describe.

      I have also never heard of anyone having a problem with the send/end/menu button. In fact, you don't even NEED to end a call because as soon as the other party hangs up, your call is terminated and pressing END won't do anything. The only way to make it not say "END" during a call is by pressing the arrow keys after you've dialed. It sounds to me like your users are the problem here.

      So you're saying you have 2 users call each other, both push the arrow keys during the call, and neither hang up? Gee, how very likely....
    4. Re:Too bad it's Nokia... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The companies voicemail system for here in the office does NOT hang up until you do.. and if you press any digits while in a call you no longer have "end" on your button, you actually have to hold down clear so that "options" goes away.

      as a college student you usually have more brain cells than a sales person, but it still doesnt fix the fact that the phones are crappy. and it is a firmware flaw causing the dead screen problem. documented and confirmed by many technical bullitens. (I had one faxed to me.) so now the phones are slowly getting fixed as they are returned for dead screen problems.. but it took them 2 years to finally admit to the problem.

      Still... I will never ever reccomend Nokia to anyone.. they are crap phones.

  13. 3G standard by FuBaR+Technician · · Score: 1

    Wha? Is that how much this things gonna cost?

  14. Video vs. Communication by jeffersonebell · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's interesting that Nokia is positioning this phone, seemingly, as a "multimedia" phone vs. a communication tool. Their website seems to emphasize "movie making" and picture taking, but not better communication or interactivity with your office. However, I'm wondering who'd actually buy it for those features rather than just take a digital camera with them. I know that I'm a big fan of having a phone that communicates really well and a camera that takes pictures really well, not a convergence device. I'll probably sing a different tune in a couple of years when some magic device takes care of all of my pocket garbage, but until then give me a phone which handles one thing and handles it really, really well.

    1. Re:Video vs. Communication by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jut bought a phone capable of GPRS, with reviewers indicating they've had connection speeds of up to 80kbps.

      I can browse the net with my laptop via it, although the service here is in its infancy it works reasonably well.

      And this isn't a 3G phone.

      What they have to do is toss their data rate charges. Nothing will catch on at the rates they want to charge localy. It works out to $30/Megabyte if you exceed your quota. And the quota rates arn't very good either.

      If they don't lower the rates nobody will use the data rates for anything except short TEXT emails.

    2. Re:Video vs. Communication by andrew_0812 · · Score: 0

      Oh, you mean the tri-corder. It should be out for beta testing soon.

    3. Re:Video vs. Communication by BrookHarty · · Score: 4, Insightful

      However, I'm wondering who'd actually buy it for those features rather than just take a digital camera with them.

      Its not buy a camera, its get video features added in at no extra cost. Video camera phone attachments are selling quite well. People like having the option of sending pictures/movies of friends/family. Take a feature upgrade people are buying, make it a standard on the phone. This will reduce the cost and make it normal feature on phones.

      Look at how people will buy new cell phones just for the ringtones. Features sell.

  15. Blah! by Jeppe+Salvesen · · Score: 2

    Frankly, this is plain old blah. I want my cell phone small and simple and cheap, but capable of interacting with PDAs. Then, if I want all that multi-media crap, I'll use my PDA - which happens to be a much better platform for that functionality.

    So - gimme a Bluetooth-enabled Tungsten and a small 3G-device, and I might think about it. For now, I'll stick to my regular GSM that I can upgrade to GPRS if I (want|need) to.

    --

    Stop the brainwash

  16. Re:Awesome! Finally, a 3G phone...wait a second... by Cyn · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's okay, if you look at
    this
    you'll notice you really don't want to be anywhere near this phone. Apparently it's "connect anywhere / to anything" ability has rather a microwave-oven effect on the people beyond the lens of its camera.

    --
    cyn, free software and *nix operating systems enthusiast.
  17. Re:OFF TOPIC, but you will thank me! by Tsali · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    How the h@ll is this insightful?

    --
    This space for rent.
  18. Yes indeed I will by maroberts · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Thank you thank you Thank you

    --

    Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
    Karma: Chameleon

  19. What's with all the cameras? by A+non+moose+cow · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why does every new device come with a built in camera now?

    Is it because people actually want them? Or just because it is now a really cheap feature to throw in so that you don't appear to be technologically behind your competition?

    The cheapo cameras that make their way into these gadgets are treated like "hot items" at Christmas... once you show your friends that you have it, you never bother to use it again.

    1. Re:What's with all the cameras? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      because transferring images uses up minutes. or kilobytes, if you're metered that way.

  20. Sad to see that pop(3) is not supported. by piethein · · Score: 1, Funny

    Sad to see that pop3 is not support by this phone :/ This is one of my most wanted features!

    1. Re:Sad to see that pop(3) is not supported. by pcardoso · · Score: 2, Informative

      I fail to see what is so funny about this, but I did't get it.

      About pop3, I have a sony ericsson t68i and it has a pop3 email client. I tried to configure it but I have some problems in the wireless data configuration. For some reason it wants use pop3 over wap, when I just want a regular dial-up connection (in operator (vodafone portugal) wap is about 10x as expensive as a regular data call, go figure that)

      But it supports email download (full or just the header), smtp sending and lots more I haven't got the time to explore fully.

      Plus it is very small, with a reasonable color screen, and the digital camera that plugs in it is ok for 640x480 daylight photos. I can send pictures as MMSs, but these are expensive and more important, I don't know anyone with a MMS capable phone to send them. And as MMS the photos are sent as 140x80 or something like that.

      GSM 900/1800/1900, IR, bluetooth, and a a calendar that at first sight is not that much different from my palm m100 calendar.

      Great little phone. If only I could get specs and program for it, I would make a Goo clone taking input from the digital camera.

    2. Re:Sad to see that pop(3) is not supported. by BrookHarty · · Score: 2

      I have IRC running on mine. Now with a color display, maybe I can use BitchX. :)

    3. Re:Sad to see that pop(3) is not supported. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?s=&thre adid=52448

      for a general outline of how to set things up.

      there is an option that says "connect using" then u can choose ur wap data connection or ur CSD (dial up) setting.

  21. the first..... by SimianKid · · Score: 1

    The first phone to meet the 3G standard? What about all the phones NTT DoCoMo have been using on their 3G service. Or am I greatly mistaken?

    1. Re:the first..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NTT DoCoMo's network isn't based on a 3G standard. It was developed by themselves. So it gives lets them put products on the market sooner, but there isn't the interoperability that a standards based phone and air-interface allow.

      That said I can't remember if they were even getting true 3G speeds, or just 2.5G speeds on thier network.

    2. Re:the first..... by nelsonal · · Score: 1

      They get better than 2.5G speeds, it might not be 2Mbps, but I have heard its in the several hundred Kbps range.

      --
      Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
    3. Re:the first..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a proprietary pre-release...

      But 128kbps is not 3G anyway. Sprint and Verizon both have phones thet do 153kbps peak.

    4. Re:the first..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hello 3G is defined as achieving at least 144kbps in a high speed mobile environment...128kbps just ain't 3G...

  22. Thank You by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That was very insightful.

  23. OMG!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    OMG!! You read my mind! I WILL thank you many times over! thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya thank ya

  24. MHz by genka · · Score: 1

    Phone works on 900 and 1800 MHz, USA uses 1900. Most of you, guys, will see it only on pictures!

    1. Re:MHz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      3G phones work at 2.1GHz. To enable better data transfer on 3G frequencies, the phones use 2G(900/1800MHz) for voice and 3G for data. This frees up codes on the 3G site. More codes means faster data transfer!

    2. Re:MHz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excuse me - 3G operates in the 2100 MHz frequencies...900 and 1800 MHz will only achieve 20-30kbps throughput if you are lucky...

      Besides 128kbps is NOT 3G!!!!

    3. Re:MHz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      2.1GHz is 2100MHz. 128K is only the start. When launched in UK the operators are trying to go for 384K. Its is therotically possible to get than 1Mbps but only if you have the site to yourself!(not likely in London).

    4. Re:MHz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But the phone can't handle more than 128kbps so it doesn't matter what speed the network can handle - this phone can't hit speed...

      cdma2000 1x phones which have sold over 17M already do 153kbps...

      Thanks so much for clarifying that 2100 MHz is 2.1 GHz...shocking.

    5. Re:MHz by SocietyoftheFist · · Score: 1

      Hmmm, my Moto phone seems to work at 800 in digital mode and AMPS mode along with 1900 too.

  25. It's a pity! by SonOfSengaya · · Score: 3, Funny

    camera, sound, ten frames per second, 4096-color display, up to 128 kbps and you can even make a phone call! ...but they forgot the coffee machine!

    --
    My spirit takes a journey through my mind...
  26. Nokia 6610 vs. 6650 by piethein · · Score: 1

    Anyone can tell me exactly what the differents are between these two phones ? How much mem ? Features ? If I take a look at the pictures I can see that the 6610 has no camera.. What else is missing ?

    1. Re:Nokia 6610 vs. 6650 by lpret · · Score: 1

      With Nokia, xx10 is the 900,1800 freq. so basically Everywhere else but U.S. xx50 means the U.S. version. I learned this the hard way when I was in the Philippines a few years ago I had the 8210 which has an infrared port -- when I came back to the U.S. I got an 8250, but it didn't have the infrared port. They dumb things down for the U.S. market, and then they jack the prices...Good strategy if you ask me.

      --
      This is my digital signature. 10011011001
    2. Re:Nokia 6610 vs. 6650 by Ch_Omega · · Score: 1

      In short, 6610 is a 2.5G phone, which uses Nokias Series 40 OS, has no camera, and is GSM TRIBAND. 6650 is a 3G phone, which uses Nokias Series 60(Based on SymbianOS 6.1), has a built in camera, more memory, and has wideband connectivity.

      Nokia has extensive information on all their phones at their website, links below.
      6610: http://www.nokia.com/phones/6610/specifications.ht ml
      6650: http://www.nokia.com/phones/6650/specifications.ht ml

    3. Re:Nokia 6610 vs. 6650 by Ch_Omega · · Score: 2, Informative

      "With Nokia, xx10 is the 900,1800 freq. so basically Everywhere else but U.S. xx50 means the U.S. version. I learned this the hard way when I was in the Philippines a few years ago I had the 8210 which has an infrared port -- when I came back to the U.S. I got an 8250, but it didn't have the infrared port. They dumb things down for the U.S. market, and then they jack the prices...Good strategy if you ask me."

      You are correct that xx50 used to mean that it was an US verison, but only on earlier phones that had the xx10 designation in Europe. This way of defining versions of different Nokia models, cannot be transfered to the phones with x650 modelnumbers(7650, 3650, etc), or any of Nokias triband phones. The 3650, is f.eks. a triband GSM phone targeted towards both the European and Asian markets, as well as the US one. 6610 does also have triband, and nothing should prevent it from being used/sold in the US, as oposed to the older dualband-phones(900MHz/1800MHz) such as the 8210 and 5110, where they needed to make an own version for the US 1900MHz networks

      The x650 model designation, simply means that it uses the Series 60, symbian-based OS, and have imaging(vga camera) capabillities.

    4. Re:Nokia 6610 vs. 6650 by piethein · · Score: 1

      http://www.nokia.com/phones/6610/specifications.ht ml Is not working yet.. That's why I'm asking this...

    5. Re:Nokia 6610 vs. 6650 by Ch_Omega · · Score: 1

      Sorry, my fault. :-/ However, there are some info here, and there will probably be info on Nokia's Devices specification page which presents info on all of Nokia's phones side by side, for easy comparison, soon.

    6. Re:Nokia 6610 vs. 6650 by ecki · · Score: 1

      I'm almost certain the 6650 is not running Series60... do you have a more specific link?

    7. Re:Nokia 6610 vs. 6650 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope 6650 is NOT SymbianOS

  27. Stories vs. Product Placement by haa...jesus+christ · · Score: 0, Troll

    Maybe I'm totally misreading this, but can we please stop it with the damn product placement? It seems that Slashdot has had a lot of these 'stories' up lately, be it an actual money-maker for OSDN or otherwise (most likely the case, since I don't think the editors even read half the stories). Not so much meant as a bitch, but more a cocern for whatever passes for journalistic standards around here.

    1. Re:Stories vs. Product Placement by haa...jesus+christ · · Score: 1

      Of course, if I had any journalistic standards I would have written "concern" instead of "cocern." God bless America, we're all screwed.

  28. Don't sweat it. by theonomist · · Score: 4, Funny

    All the 3G in the world won't change the fact that 99.9% of cell-phone conversations are moronic anyway:

    A: Where are you?

    B: I'm on th' terlet, huh huh! Where're you?

    A: HOLY CRAP I'M ON THE TERLET TOO! What'cha doin', "number one"?

    B: Nope, "number two"! Plop, plop!

    A: HUH HUH HUH!

    B: I'm wipin' my ass now! I'm wipin', I'm wipin'! What'cha doin' now, huh? Huh?

    A: I'M WIPIN' TOO!

    Brief pause...

    A: You still wipin'?

    B: Nope, ain't wipin.

    A: So, uh, what'cha doin'? Where are ya'?

    Later, rinse, repeat...

    What we need, for example, is technology that will summarily strangle anybody who actually uses a cell phone. That, I think we'll all agree, will improve quality of life for everybody, just like Jesus meant for technology to do.

    Until then, I'll just go on tripping morons who walk down the street yapping into their fists and bumping into each other.

    --
    "Offtopic, Inflammatory, Inappropriate, Illegal, or Offensive" -- hey, that's me!
    1. Re:Don't sweat it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe when you grow up you will see that there are valid reasons for using a cell phone. Now go back and tell mommy and daddy that you are a bad boy so they can spank you.

    2. Re:Don't sweat it. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      this idiot was probably on his cellphone when he read the offending humor. heheh.

  29. Just recorded video? by mwalker · · Score: 3

    Will these phones only be able to send video that you've recorded with the phone? Or will you be able to upload images to them? For instance, I'd love to be able to beam nude images of the Brazilian women's soccer team to people from my computer using this phone. I can't seem to find a data sheet which talks about the upload capability.

    1. Re:Just recorded video? by Serveert · · Score: 1

      2 ways.

      WAP) Provide it on a web server and goto the URL.

      MMS) Questionable.. believe you can send an email with the video to the phone, but the question is will carriers allow you to do this, probably not. MMS is geared towards phonephone multimedia sending. Pretty useless, I know.

      --
      2 years and no mod points. Join reddit. Because openness is good.
  30. Can I pay off my phone with p0rn? by ngoy · · Score: 3, Funny

    Everything invented now seems to be for the sake of p0rn or entertainment. Just think, these phone probably could be setup to send pics directly to webserver. And you thought you didn't have enough upskirt photos already. You could probably remote control these from a computer and set them up all over the place and take pictures every minute or so.

    Seriously though, there are two sides to this. You could be being watched at any point in time and not know it (well, we are right now but I mean up close), or this could be the start of a turning point in moving more countries in the world towards democracy. When you can't hide what you are doing to your people you tend to be a little more scared of doing something bad. What are they going to do, ban cell phones?

    Shango

    --
    --ngoy
    1. Re:Can I pay off my phone with p0rn? by DaveSchool · · Score: 1

      Yeah, banning cell phones sounds pretty easy to me. A lot of theaters and eateries ban them already. New York City has some ordinance or something banning in them in a lot of public places. It's not that hard to do. And if you're a country, just don't allow cell phone companies to build towers or operate in your country, it's that simple.

      And I don't see how "You could be being watched at any point in time and not know it" is going to move countries to democracy, you'll have to explain your logic a little further...

    2. Re:Can I pay off my phone with p0rn? by 73k74rt · · Score: 1

      i think this will have a positive effect on democracy, anyone that can afford the phone has their own cctv , it is a chance to record events as they happen in conflict situations eg. this bbc news story about a home video capturing a police officer hitting an apparently defenceless man. if everyone has a phone with a camera how many more such events could be captured

  31. Nokia are trying very hard but WCDMA is doomed by ites · · Score: 2, Informative

    Nokia have (here in Belgium) a very good reputation.
    IMHO they deserve it. Good phones, well designed.
    But Europe's mobile phone market is very sick.
    The operators paid heavily for near-useless licences.
    They cannot get WCDMA to work (first pilot in Finland was cancelled).
    They cannot change to CDMA2000 (against their license terms).
    They cannot sell or trade their licenses.
    Basically, Europe's telecom regulators have screwed it and lost their world lead with GSM.
    For Nokia, this is very serious: Europe is their main market.
    Look at Japan: CDMA2000 got 2m subscribers, WCDMA got 150,000. In the same time period.
    Qualcomm is looking like a very interesting company. They will find themselves in a monopoly position.
    Not because they have twisted anyone's arms. Simply because their technology is better.

    --
    Sig for sale or rent. One previous user. Inquire within.
  32. 128kbps for a data link ... by Macka · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... if it were at the right price enough would be fast enough for most laptop users to have as their dedicated connection to the internet.

    Unfortunately, I'll bet it won't be cheap at all. I have GPRS on my phone, and bluetooth connect from my PowerBook when I'm mobile. But I have to use it sparingly because my phone service provider charges by the MB, and it can get very expensive.

    If 3G can be charged by the minute, or even better at a fixed rate like Cable and ADSL, then it stands a chance at being widely used and accepted. If not, then they will just price themselves out of a market.

  33. Re:OFF TOPIC, but you will thank me! by WarForge · · Score: 0

    These phones would come in handy to send these photos to my friends :-))

  34. All have their bad ones.(Re:Too bad it's Nokia...) by phorm · · Score: 1

    I have a motorola - Startac phone. The reception is incredibly crappy, the original antenna has a tendency to stick out and snap off, and I've actually managed to crash the phone itself in the web-browser.
    I wouldn't brand motorola as good. The phones are rugged - mine's taken a lot of abuse - but they tend to be a bit weaker reception-wise, and the battery life on the older ones was horrible (1.5 days, less than 1 day on analogue).

    I've heard mixed reviews on the timeports, they may be better, but look into it first.

  35. Re:Awesome! Finally, a 3G phone...wait a second... by sirinek · · Score: 0, Troll

    WCDMA is the European standard which is almost-but-not-quite 3G. 3G is called CDMA2000.

    siri

  36. Re:128kbps for a data link ... by kmac06 · · Score: 0

    Right now verizon has unlimited data access on some of their 3G phones for $99/month (+talking minutes)

    It only averages about 60kbps though...

    For more information, just walk into a RadioShack

  37. 3g branding absurd. by zoftie · · Score: 1

    3G promises 2Mb/s , this phone does 128kbps. as in this article, this is a hoax, this is 2.5G phone. Once 2Mb/s is here, then put 3G sticker on it.

    Register reports on dubious branding uptaken by wireless providers:
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/27250.html

    1. Re:3g branding absurd. by johnjaydk · · Score: 1

      The 2Mb/s is marketing bullshit of the purest form. It's the theoretical maximum speed (NEVER going to happen in the real world). 1 Mb/s (a realistic real world max) is possible if you are smack next to the antenna (speed decreases with range) and the only active 3G phone within that cell (airwaves are a shared resource remember). There is little chance that any of us will ever be in that fortunate situation.

      --
      TCAP-Abort
  38. Re:Just shoot me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://users.pandora.be/p0p0/youare.swf

  39. Not exactly Super... by tkny · · Score: 1

    it doesn't even support 1900Mhz GSM.... when will the quad-band model come out, eh?

  40. Re:Awesome! Finally, a 3G phone...wait a second... by lil · · Score: 2, Informative

    Oh my god. You have no clue do you? WCDMA is the 3GPP standard that UMTS uses. It is certainly 3G. Peak bandwidth of 2 megabits/second qualifies.

  41. Re:128kbps for a data link ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    My local company offered a deal for 6 months. $50/month unlimited. (AT&T/Rogers)

    once the 6 months is up I'll be canceling it unless they come out with a half decent deal. $30/Megabyte is WAY too expensive.

    I think they people working out the pricing are insane. I bet usage at this rates of GPRS never exceeds 10%.

  42. Who's planning on WCDMA? by Jobe_br · · Score: 1

    OK, maybe I haven't been paying attention, but as far as I know, Verizon is using CDMA2000 (1xRTT, right?) and Sprint PCS is using CDMA2000 (I'm sure about that one), AT&T has a TDMA network (and some small bit of a GSM network) - so who's planning on deploying WCDMA? I've heard bad reports on wCDMA in Europe & Japan, compared to CDMA2000, so what's the scoop here? GSM compatibility is nice, but the Sony Ericcson phones seem pretty suave to me (T68i, anyone?)

    Am I missing something here?

    1. Re:Who's planning on WCDMA? by 10Ghz · · Score: 1

      To my knowledge, 3G networks in USA are about 50% CDMA2000, 50% WCDMA. Rest of the world is about 95% WCDMA.

      --
      Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.
    2. Re:Who's planning on WCDMA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah here in the US CDMA2000 (1x) is most popular because CDMA is the most popular network type with a 3G migration (TDMA doesn't have a successor standard). So Sprint and Verizon are deploying CDMA2000.

      ATT has a TDMA network and they are deploying a GSM and GPRS (2.5G) network (that's what mlife is). ATT will probably go to UMTS eventually since that is the migration path from GSM/GPRS, but I haven't heard anything about that. So most of Europe and wherever GSM is used will probably migrate to UMTS.

      Also CMDA 1x was meant to be 3G, but in practice it only gives 2.5G speeds. When CDMA 1xEVDV networks get deployed that will give true 3G speeds for a CDMA network.

    3. Re:Who's planning on WCDMA? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      90% of 3G subscribers in the world are on CDMA2000. That includes all of USA(Sprint, Verizon) & Korea and most of Japan. WCDMA at this point has zero penetration.

      I can connect my $60 Kyocera 2235 on Verizon 1xRTT(CDMA2000) to my laptop/palm today and get up to 144kbs almost anywhere in NY/NJ.

      KN

  43. does this mean... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    does this mean I can troll slashdot from my cellphone now? SWEET! :-)

  44. Nice by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If thats the pre-match warmup, I can't wait to see the goal celebrations.

  45. Re:OH! MA! GA! by lil · · Score: 1

    Please. Just because I said "Oh my god" I'm all of a sudden ditzy? :)

    My point is that WCDMA is 3G. Not that he didn't know what standard UMTS is.

  46. Why wasn't this news a week ago? -5, Troll ? by E_elven · · Score: 0, Troll

    Bah. I guess /. has some guidelines that only old news gets published?

    --
    Marxist evolution is just N generations away!
  47. Video? by khuber · · Score: 1
    It has a 128x60 pixel display. Video must rock on that.

    3G doesn't seem useful on a tiny cell display like that. Browse the web? The most text you could fit is 32 columns by 7 rows or so. My Palm Vx is 160x160 and I don't like reading text on that. This is even smaller.

    -Kevin

    1. Re:Video? by Ch_Omega · · Score: 1

      "It has a 128x60 pixel display."

      Actually, according to Nokia's Device specifications page, it's 128 x 160. Still quite small, though. :)

    2. Re:Video? by khuber · · Score: 1
      Yes, 128x160. Sorry.

      I want 80 columns for telnet on my 3G phone. Am I just a dreamer?

      -Kevin

    3. Re:Video? by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 2

      "3G doesn't seem useful on a tiny cell display like that. Browse the web? The most text you could fit is 32 columns by 7 rows or so. My Palm Vx is 160x160 and I don't like reading text on that. This is even smaller."

      That's a bad thing? I have an Ericsson T68i, and I've played on the web a bit with it. That tiny screen means that the sites you go to have to get do to bidness. (At least the ones supported by it...)

      Go to a news page? You get a logo, and a one-line summaries of the interesting news stories. Click one, and you get the story.

      Go to a news page on the web? You get a 'portal' like site where you have to hunt around to find what you're looking for, banner ads, popups, and if you don't have Flash installed you're likely to be pestered by it.

      I'm not saying I'd prefer to read the news on my cell phone, but if I could get to the point that fast on my computer those dudes'd save me a lot of time.

      Oh, and as for video, it'd work fine. You can watch video just fine at 160 by 120. Just to give you an example: I once took an episode of Quantum Leap, captured it, compressed it down to 160 by 120 @ 7fps and a really low bitrate so that it'd fit on a 64-meg flash card. I then played it on my PocketPC while on a flight to LA. Guess what? Not only did the episode translate just fine, but the guy next to me wouldn't stop looking over my shoulder.

      It's not the type of thing you throw on your big-screen, but on a portable device it works just dandy at that resolution.

  48. Yep, Nokia is always first... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...even though others announced waaay earlier.

    like this one

    And this one does 384 kbps.

  49. Oh who gives a ... by Second_Derivative · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why the hell do mobile phone companies keep harping on about their integrated cameras. Come on, think about it can you honestly imagine even a contrived situation when a mobile phone camera can do something that a disposable or digital camera can't do just as well if not better. I get tired of it. My current mobile phone is a Nokia 7110. I plan to continue using this thing until it falls apart: predictive text messaging, vibration function and even WAP is in there, and I got it dirt cheap too because it was already discontinued when I got mine. And I don't even use the WAP.

    This isn't really ideal I suppose, though the manufacturers really need to just focus on more useful things. Broadband-speed, permanent near flat rate wireless access would rock: some other poster in a different story mentioned that his student brother/friend/acquaintance was working in Japan and could stream MP3's off his home machine and off his mobile phone on the way to work (and this guy was a student so he's hardly loaded). I want to be able to do that. Then there's all this fuss about personal area networks: you've got a mobile phone in your shirt pocket, connected to the internet and you can check your email and the like on your PDA. Or if you're in the car you can have a headset which uses a wireless bluetooth link to let you talk to people behind the wheel or initiate calls by voice: I want that too. All of these things would seriously rock.

    But for crying out loud, as for these worthless gimmicks take your damn FM radios and digital cameras and integrated mobile phone/PDA jobs and shove them.

    1. Re:Oh who gives a ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When I go out on the weekend, I always carry my cell phone. Most of the time I would like to take my Digital Camera as well, but I only have so much pocket space. I'd love a phone with a built in camera, but I'm waiting for prices to come down.

    2. Re:Oh who gives a ... by ergo98 · · Score: 1

      I presume that it's all about the youth market where such a useless feature might get a good response for a short while. Personally I wouldn't buy a phone with a digital camera, or other unnecessary featuers, even if the premium was $0, as it makes the phone larger, consume more power, more things to break, etc. Waste of space.

      Now an integrated PDA&Cell phone I can see being useful, and I do look forward to that. If the Toshiba e740 has cell phone functionality, that would be fantastic as I always carry both a cell and a PDA around.

    3. Re:Oh who gives a ... by anonymous+loser · · Score: 2
      Why the hell do mobile phone companies keep harping on about their integrated cameras. Come on, think about it can you honestly imagine even a contrived situation when a mobile phone camera can do something that a disposable or digital camera can't do just as well if not better

      Hmm...well they're pretty popular in Japan right now, but maybe it's because they're a spur-of-the-moment photographic bunch to begin with...I mean, walk around in Tokyo and you see PURIKURA (a photo booth thing, that prints on little stickers you can affix to your phone) all over the place. I get pictures in the mail all the time from my Japanese friends, because it's as easy as point-click-send.

      Other reasons:
      1. The cameras aren't particularly obvious, so it can also be used to take pictures of people without them being aware of it.
      2. It's also easy to use one-handed, and is accessible when pulling out a regular camera might be difficult in that environment (like on a train).
      3. Less crap to carry. These integrate cell phone, wireless web access, PDA, and cameras into a single handheld appliance that fits in your front shirt pocket. When I travel now, I have to take all that stuff PLUS the damn power adaptors, extra batteries, etc. I've been waiting for a few years (and still waiting, here in the US) for something to come along and allow me to integrate all those functions into a single device, because I hate carrying lots of crap when I travel.

    4. Re:Oh who gives a ... by Tony+Hoyle · · Score: 2

      GPRS is quite nice (browse at your own pace, no paying by the minute, and the amount of data in a WAP page isn't going to go over the basic 0.5GB a month unless you really hammer it).

      My next phone will have polyphonic ringtones & Java... Not to bothered with colour/camera but if everyone else gets one then I might have to just to receive their messages! By next year the 'with camera' phones will be given away free anyway (like WAP/GPRS is today).

      Hopefully when polyphonic ringtones (just MIDI files really) become widespread those ripoff merchants charging £2.50 per ringtone will all go bust...

  50. lame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We have had these in Europe for MONTHS!!!

  51. That's a lot of addresses... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I heard an estimate that IP v6 would provide about 10,000 IP addresses per square mile on the surface of the Earth. Don't remember if that meant land mass or oceans too, and I'm too lazy to do the math. Still, that's probably more socks than we all have feet for!

  52. Whose first 3G announcement? by Tintivilus · · Score: 1

    Funny how everybody's forgetting the Motorola A820, which was announced in... January? WCDMA, GSM, GPRS, and a bag of chips. here's a review and another.

  53. Re:Awesome! Finally, a 3G phone...wait a second... by karmawarrior · · Score: 2, Informative
    Er, nope.

    WCDMA is a component of UMTS, the world wide 3G telecommunications standard being put together under the auspices of the ITU.

    CDMA2000 is US PCS technology company Qualcomm's rival 3G standard.

    The reason for CDMA2000 is primarily because Qualcomm wants to keep control over CDMA technology, and because UMTS has limited capabilities to integrate with old cdmaOne type networks such as that used by Sprint PCS and Verizon. It's also strictly a one-airinterface-technology standard.

    --
    KMSMA (WWBD?)
  54. just a note by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I hate external antennae. They just get in the way whenever I put the phone in my pocket. I loved my old Nokia (33xx series) that had an internal antenna, but the phone was unreliable (went through 3 of 'em). My new Motorola (V.60) has the stubby external non-telescoping antenna, and I hate it. But, the phone is so much better, that I couldn't compare that problem vs. an unreliable phone.

    Thankfully, T-Mobile is following through with their promise of increased coverage. At work, before I could not use the phone inside. Now, I can use it in the stairway, on the elevator, and at my desk. Which is they way it should have always been, considering there is a cell tower on top of my building!

  55. tri-band?! by krokodil · · Score: 2

    While all manufactures now offer 900/1800/1900
    phones now, Nokia does just 2-band leaving
    out north american customers.

    1. Re:tri-band?! by DiscoOnTheSide · · Score: 1

      3G is loosely based of GSM and those other european standards that aren't in America anyways (except with T-Mobile and Cingular and AT&T's recent breaks into it). The kind of phone you want (tri-band) that would work on GSM networks, AFIAK, theres only ONE Seimens phone that does both. Just wait for GSM to take over America and we're set.

      --
      Viva La Revolucion! Buy a Mac!
    2. Re:tri-band?! by Ch_Omega · · Score: 1

      "While all manufactures now offer 900/1800/1900 phones now, Nokia does just 2-band leaving out north american customers."

      Alot of the other, newer Nokia phones, like the 3650, the 7210, and the 6610 are triband. The reason this phone isn't, does probably have something to do with WCDMA really not being used in the US. :)

    3. Re:tri-band?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      yea because you dumb motherfuckers suck

  56. Wireless, remote-controlled, IP-based video cam by exhilaration · · Score: 1
    Forget X-10 cameras, if you could get this thing to automatically snap pictures and send them back every few seconds or minutes, YOU'D HAVE THE ULTIMATE SUPER-SLICK 007 SPY TOOL!!!!

    Hide it in an office or whatever, monitor the suspects via the Internet, and just pick up the camera at the end of the day

    You could even send it commands via SMS - I don't know what for, but if it's got some zoom features you could control those remotely!!

    AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Just remember to turn off the ringer ;)

  57. Re:Awesome! Finally, a 3G phone...wait a second... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    'Cuse me...128kbps is not 3G...both verizon and Sprint have better phones that achieve much higher data rates...

  58. First ever phone to meet 3G? by Jordy · · Score: 2

    Nokia is certainly not the first phone to operate on 3G. It isn't even the first phone to work on WCDMA 3G.

    For those who don't know, the ITU defined a set of 3 CDMA-based standards for 3G; WCDMA, CDMA2000, and TD-SCDMA.

    CDMA2000 services have been rolling out for quite some time. There are currently over 16 million subscribers (Korea alone accounts for 12 million and Japan with 2.14 million.) This is the standard rolling out in the US with SprintPCS and Verizon.

    WCDMA on the other hand has very few users, on the order of 0.13 million.

    Panasonic WCDMA device launched in September 2001 by NTT DoCoMo obviously beat this Nokia. NEC has a couple models launched in October 2001 for WCDMA as well.

    Now, most CDMA2000 devices are 1x (low bandwidth first iteration.) Full blown 1xEV-DO (2 Mbps) devices were launched a while ago for the Korea market. These include LG LG-KH5000 in May 2002 and most recently the Samsung SCH-V300 launched in September 2002.

    See 3G Today for a very extensive list of 3G devices.

    --
    The world is neither black nor white nor good nor evil, only many shades of CowboyNeal.
    1. Re:First ever phone to meet 3G? by Ch_Omega · · Score: 1

      I somehow misread the info on Nokias website. It says"The Nokia 6650 is a first-of-it's kind 3G phone, but developers need not wait for a full 3G network roll-out before taking advantage of its features.", which in essence means that it's the first 3G phone with those features, not neccesarly the first 3G phone.

      My mistake. :)

  59. ever hear of bluetooth? by levl289 · · Score: 1

    this phone has it.

    with it, it can do all the cool stuff that you mentioned you'd "love" up top.

    --

    Q: What do you think about American Culture?
    A: I think it's a good idea.
    (adapted from Gandhi)

  60. Whose economy ? by MosesJones · · Score: 2


    While Telco's aren't super stocks anymore, they are still moving on, most of the rest of the planet has suffered less in the last year because they didn't have as big a bubble that burst and haven't faced enough corruption.

    GSM and 2G exploded in Europe and Asia well before it took off in the US.

    This won't fail because the US doesn't do it.

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
    1. Re:Whose economy ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Asia and Europe aren't exactly experiencing boom times right now and if I recall correctly the Euro Telcos are having huge problems with debt from the 3G licenses. Granted the tech is out ahead of the US slightly, but it is a global recession. One which the US is already recovering from.

  61. Re:WCDMA is doomed by rocannon · · Score: 2, Informative

    I'm glad you are impatient, but I'm afraid you're going to have to wait a bit longer. After all, this posting is about the cosmetic launch of one of the first commercial WCDMA phones (excl. FOMA). Cosmetic, since the phone itself won't be in stores until somewhere in the 1st half of 2003. But at least we get to see the slideware already.

    Before WCDMA will be launched massively, some things need to be sorted out. There need to be phones of course, or any network launch is useless. And some mandatory features like roaming (shown last year between Vodafone Spain and J-Phone Japan) and WCDMA to GSM handover (hand off) are a must. Last week we saw reports of the first demonstrations of such a handover in the Telia/Hi3G network in Sweden, with a Sony Ericsson handset. And we saw a network launched (Mobilkom Austria). But what is such a launch worth when there are no handsets. That said, it's excellent news that Nokia already shows us the slides.

    CDMA2000 has been launched earlier, yes, since it's a relatively small upgrade from IS-95. On the other hand, upgrading from GSM to WCDMA is a revolution in the radio access network. If EU operators are looking at any alternatives to WCDMA, it would be EDGE, a natural upgrade from GSM, delivering throughput in excess of 384 kbps and therefore labeled "3G", and somewhat behind WCDMA in network development. No phones announced either. Will probably fly high in the growing American GSM markets.

    The situation in Japan is particularly curious, since they're looking at 3 operators each deploying a not-interoperable wireless access technology. There KDDI's CDMA2000 1x (offering 144 kbps), NTT DoCoMo's proprietary FOMA system (a WCDMA dialect), and J-Phone's true WCDMA. KDDI appears to be winning, which is not because CDMA2000 is technologically superior, but because there's variety and choice in phones.

    Let's see where WCDMA is going, there's a big test for one of the keenest WCDMA investors coming up soon.

  62. More bytes, more bucks. Mod parent up! by StrawberryFrog · · Score: 2

    Q: Whats with all the cameras?
    A: transferring images uses up minutes. or kilobytes, if you're metered that way.

    This AC is right on the money.

    SMS, if you remember recent history, was never intended by the networks to be a killer app. However it had such overwhelming grassroots support (albeit mostly outside the USA) that the networks have climbed on the bandwagon and now produced this: a way to charge you for as much bandwidth as possible without much meaningful communication occuring.

    --

    My Karma: ran over your Dogma
    StrawberryFrog

  63. Spy Camera! by Shook · · Score: 1

    I recently got a discontinued Eyemodule for my old discontinued Handspring Visor ($30, why not?)

    I'm having a lot of fun because of the simple fact that people don't know it's a camera. My friends are used to me using a PDA, and now I can get cool candid shots.

    I feel like the fuzzy, low-res pictures I'm collecting are a better catalog of my life than the "say cheese" pictures from my film camera.

    I could see a phone on a camera being used in much the same way. Yes, it's a toy. But it's a fun toy. Of course, I didn't rush out an buy this eyemodule 2 years ago when it was $200.

  64. Re:Hold your horses by infiniti99 · · Score: 2

    Depends on the Nokia phone :)

    I have the Nokia 6310i, which has absolutely amazing battery life when running in the USA:

    Talk time: 4h - 7h 30 min
    Standby time: up to 17 days

    Of course, the phone isn't very fancy. No color screen or anything. Just a slimmer 61xx-style phone, but with all the stuff you really want: GPRS, Bluetooth, WAP.

  65. Re:Hold your horses by Xerithane · · Score: 2

    Of course, the phone isn't very fancy. No color screen or anything. Just a slimmer 61xx-style phone, but with all the stuff you really want: GPRS, Bluetooth, WAP.

    Well, I got a nice color screen so I'll take my 1 hour shorter battery life :) (Fully charged is about 6h-6:30)

    --
    Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
  66. Re:Awesome! Finally, a 3G phone...wait a second... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Be glad you live in the US. The euros won't have anything close to 3G for another 2-3 years.

    Check out Sprint PCS and Verizon Wireless for true 3G today.

  67. CDMA2000 is the winner Re:WCDMA is doomed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    KDDI is the winner because CDMA2000 is the superior technology. I mean, CDMA2000 works and WCDMA is still floundering.

    CDMA2000 has most users, more phone, high economies of scale, cheaper to operate, etc.

    Ie. CDMA2000 is SUPERIOR than WCDMA...

    1. Re:CDMA2000 is the winner Re:WCDMA is doomed by Cato · · Score: 2

      That's a bit like saying, back in 1995, that 'Linux is doomed - Windows has more users, more desktops, high economies of scale, ...' Of course, back then Linux was not really ready for prime time the way it is now, with nicer GUIs, installers, more apps, etc.

      W-CDMA is not really finished yet, as other posts have pointed out - NTT DoCoMo launched too early with a sort-of W-CDMA, but its phones didn't have any roaming onto the local 2G networks, so you had to buy a large expensive phone to get tiny coverage in a couple of big cities. Not surprisingly, it failed.

      The real test will come when W-CDMA phones have integrated roaming onto 2G networks (mainly GSM) - only then is there any chance of serious uptake. These phones will have a much bigger potential market than CDMA2000, so as long as the phones and networks work well, and have good services at reasonable prices, it's possible that W-CDMA will gradually come to dominate. But only time will tell...

  68. W-CDMA vs CDMA2000-1X by RedSynapse · · Score: 2
    There's an intersting article at The Economist which compares the consortium driven but currently non functioning W-CDMA standard and the Qualcomm owned but currently 2 Million plus userbase CDMA2000-1X standard.

    Basically what has happened in Europe is that Telecom companies have paid about $90 Billion for the spectrum and rights to roll out 3G services but are *only* allowed to use W-CDMA. The problem is it doesn't work yet, and who knows when it will. Meanwhile in Japan, South America, and elsewhere they are using CDMA2000-1X and they've signed up millions of users.

    The Eurocrat regulators' stance seems to be "na na na na, I can't hear you, na na na na na na na" while telecom company debt builds up to the point where it may crush some companies before they ever get to actually roll out any 3G services.

  69. Re:Hold your horses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bad battery times for Nokia?
    Standbytime for my 6310 is about a week. Promised talktime is about 4 hours IIRC, never really tested that.
    Most important is that i can get over 6 hours of continuous gprs connection with a not-excatly-fully-loaded battery.

    It's funny how the normally technophile slashdot-crowd goes "buuu" every time a new phone is released. I have never really wanted anything more from my phone than it to work, but after they finally got flat rate gprs I got a new phone and I'll never give it up. Even wap is usefull when it doesn't cost anything. And mobile data connection is a true lifeline.

  70. Re:Hold your horses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    yeah I also got the 6310i and been amazed at the battery life on that thing... compared to my old phone this new one seems to go on for at least twice as long

    and its got Java, which is the only feature I care about (GPRS and bluetooth might be useful at some point too)

  71. Kyocera beat Nokia in that race by seanscottrogers · · Score: 1

    Kyocera Wireless had the first 3G (CDMA2000 1X) phone launched over a year ago. The 2200 Series have sold in excess of 3 million units at Verizon, Sprint, and Virgin Mobile USA. Nokia really isn't doing anything special here.

  72. Re:60G standard by 3Ddgg · · Score: 1

    Actually in_.jp it'll probably be more like 60G.

    At least that's what the DoCoMo FOMA 3G phones cost.

    Can someone explain why the FOMA phones don't meet the 3G standard?

    They seem to make the same bandwidth requirements. I fail to see whats new about this. Is it the multitasking?

    --
    No warranty of any kind is offered as to the quality of this post.
  73. This is a MAC article! We want naked MEN! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jesus, what's with you people?!

    Ain't you never seen a Mac user before?

  74. Not the first 3G phone by ittanmomen · · Score: 1

    Well actually there is no such thing as a single 3G standard! As far as I know there are several competing standards mainly the European one and the American one (by Qualcom).

    As a matter of fact here in Japan we have 3G phones already for about a year, since NTT Docomo introduced the FOMA service. It is hardly very successful, expensive and unreliable but these phones contain more features than any GSM phone on the market.

    In addition KDDI subsidiary AU has sported a 2.5G phone service called CDMA-One for about 3 years, which now has been moved to full 3G with CDMA2000.

    It is easy to think of GSM and Nokia as THE WORLD STANDARDS, but please remember that Japan has a completely different phone system that is much more advanced in many areas (while lagging behind in others).

  75. IS NOT MY BRAN3# IS FUCKING HELL!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    GIMME BOOTOOFTH no DAMN you I WANT SMALL SPHERE PHONE no noise rockets DO NOT want weapon must HAVE NOISE ONLY PHONE TALKY talky talky NO moveie bad BAD

    GOD IN HELL PHONE MUST NOT ENORMOUS! phone must microspheroid swallow stomach phone! borborygmus! borborfuckingygmus! BORBORYGMUS! BORBORFUCKINGYGMUS! NO PHONE TALK TUMMY!

    GOD DAMN!

  76. The genius of capitalism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...the networks have climbed on the bandwagon and now produced this: a way to charge you for as much bandwidth as possible without much meaningful communication occuring.

    Preee-cisely! And that's the beauty of it: Stupid people have money. Do stupid people need money? No. In a despotic system, we'd club 'em on the kidneys and take their money, but that's inelegant. In a free society, we do it differently: We sell them shit (in fact, we can even sell them nonexistent shit, such as bandwidth for them to send blurry pictures they don't care about, to their equally witless friends who delete the pictures immediately because they don't care either -- I mean, not to digress here, but is there anything on earth more canonically boring than looking at somebody else's fucking pictures? What kind of a craphead would pay extra to download that noise?! Yet people do! Capitalism is pure genius! Digression ends.). And they buy it. And now we have their money, so we can buy fast cars, because fast cars impress girls!

    And then somebody else has our money!

    Um...

    NO PHONE TALK TUMMY!

    GOD DAMN!

  77. Re:OH! MA! GA! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    W-CDMA is most definately 3g. In fact, it is the definition of 3G. CDMA2000 is a proprietary Qualcomm standard, used in North America and a small number of other countries, that has similar capabilities to W-CDMA. UMTS is the solution that will allow interop between W-CDMA and CDMA2000

  78. Re:Awesome! Finally, a 3G phone...wait a second... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    1xRTT is not 3G!!!!!!!. Its 2.5G, same as GPRS, which has been in use in most GSM based countries for a couple of years. I'm afraid the US is a long way behind the rest of the world when it comes to 3G

  79. This is a bogus article by JARhed-rwx · · Score: 1

    This is a bogus article. CDMA 2000 3G phones that are referred to as 2.5G operate at the same (if not higher) speeds that this phone does (~144 kbps). There are plenty of 3G-1XRTT capable phones available from SprintPCS and Verizon and those companies have networks that support 3G-1XRTT - that's right 3G-1XRTT at full 3G-1XRTT speeds! So to say that this piece of junk Nokia is the first 3G capable phone is a fallacy.

  80. ABSOLUTELY! by SlashDotterX · · Score: 1

    The Nokia 6650 is defintely NOT the first 3G phone to be announced! You might want to take a look at the Motorola A820. It will use the UMTS standard, as defined by the ITU under their IMT2000 (a standard capable of delivering upto 2Mbps) - matter of fact, concept models aside, take a look at their whole range of 3G equipment. First? my lilly white butt! And when it comes to Nokia, announcements are one thing, delivering on it is another! But hey, I'm still waiting for my shiny new Sony/Ericsson P800 as well... "What?! Christmas you say?"

  81. The 3G way by Sulka · · Score: 4, Funny

    You think 3G camera prohes won't change that?

    A: Look what I just did in the terlet!

    B: HUH HUH HUH!

    --
    "Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."
  82. Nokia Numbers by pihl · · Score: 1

    Nokia seems to have numbering system like this:

    ABCD{i} where:

    A = market category
    1 = basic (not much used lately)
    2 = old "classic" phones (2110) (not used much since)
    3 = young people phones
    (for people that are not in serious work)
    Look plastic, feel plastic.
    You can change cover/ringtones/logos/screensavers.
    4 = not used (in Asia 4 is like 13 in west;
    you have to think also asian markets)
    5 = mostly little bit special stuff
    (5210=outdoor,5510=music-player)
    6 = classic (matter a fact phones) for
    people that use phones in work
    (not outdoors). For men.
    7 = special/extraordinary stuff (7110,7210)
    Usually not so cheap stuff.
    8 = Design mobiles (8110(=banana),8810(zippo),8850,...)
    Ladies/small stuff (8210,8310,...)
    9 = Communicators (9000,9210...)

    B = generation/version (inside category)
    (6110,6210,6310 (no 6410), 6510,6610...)
    OR subcategory
    8[23]XX = small/ladies stuff
    88XX=design stuff.

    C = network system
    1 = GSM (first it was GSM900 now also 1800)
    2 = AMPS (usa - old analog system)
    3 = GSM (was just GSM1800 [6130])
    4 = -
    5 = GSM900+1800 (sometimes +1900)
    now usually triple-band + something special
    6 = D-AMPS/TDMA (usa+americas)
    7 = CDMA1900/CDMA2000?
    8 = CDMA1900 (usa)
    9 = GSM1900 (usa)

    summary: 1-5= GSM:euro/asia stuff 6-9=usa/americas

    D = subversion (not much used in europe)

    i = extended model (like 6310i)

  83. THERE'S NO FUCKING 'A' IN "DEFINITELY", ASSHOLE. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jesus suffering Christ, why can't they drown you idiots at birth before you get loose and start annoying people?

  84. Re:Hold your horses by Cato · · Score: 2

    My T68 is being repaired for the second time in a month - it goes into a state where it refuses to make or receive calls, mainly on GSM-1800 networks. Along with the frequent crashes and spontaneous switching-off in my pocket (even though keypad lock is on), this is making me less than impressed with SonyEricsson...

    If the Nokia 7650 wasn't so chunky I'd buy one like a shot, and I may still do just to get phone software that is faster and more stable.

  85. Re:Hold your horses by Xerithane · · Score: 2

    My T68 is being repaired for the second time in a month - it goes into a state where it refuses to make or receive calls, mainly on GSM-1800 networks. Along with the frequent crashes and spontaneous switching-off in my pocket (even though keypad lock is on), this is making me less than impressed with SonyEricsson...


    I'd ask for a replacement phone. I know 4 people that have T68's and have never had any problem. There is a bug with the keylock though, and you can turn the phone off. I've done it before, but forgot what the key combo was.. I remember thinking it was really stupid. I turned AutoLock on, and it went away (go figure) and doesn't do it anymore. The only gripe I have with the phone is that the clip that holds the battery in is easy to pry open when you are digging in your pocket. I've popped my battery of twice catching pens and what not on it.

    --
    Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
  86. Not intended to picture interlocutor by ricardo2c · · Score: 1

    The camera doesn't point to the side the earpiece is. It's on the BACK of the camera...

    --
    --Drake 2c
  87. Re:Hold your horses by Cato · · Score: 2

    I'm trying for a replacement phone but unfortunately I bought it on a UK network that doesn't make this easy. I usually get phones through Orange who have an excellent replacement policy as part of their insurance deal (free in the first year) - you just get a new phone by courier and send the old one back.

  88. Re:THERE'S NO FUCKING 'A' IN "DEFINITELY", ASSHOLE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What an enlightening comment from a true intellectual giant.

    Wanker.

  89. Last Post! by alpg · · Score: 1

    .. I used to get in more fights with SCO than I did my girlfriend, but
    now, thanks to Linux, she has more than happily accepted her place back at
    number one antagonist in my life..
    -- Jason Stiefel, krypto@s30.nmex.com

    - this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...